Our parish Director of Religious Education, Kathy Kramer, and I once had a conversation in our church’s sanctuary. Her two delightful young boys were playing nearby, and at one point they got near the tabernacle. Kathy asked them to settle down. “This is where we pray, not where we play,” she said. One of her boys asked “Why?” Kathy explained, “Because Jesus is in the tabernacle.” With a puzzled expression on his face, the little boy looked at the tabernacle, then at me, and finally at Kathy. Then he asked, “What he doing in there?” I looked at Kathy and said: “This one’s all yours, Mom!” But Kathy was cool. After a brief pause, she looked at her son and said: “Jesus is there reminding us of how much he loves us.”
Blessed Pope John Paul II made the very same point in a little document he wrote not long before he died called “Church of the Eucharist.” It was written as a teaching document, and it’s an excellent one at that. But the Holy Father concluded this work with a very personal final chapter. He wrote, “Allow me, dear brothers and sisters, to share with deep emotion…my own testimony of faith in the Most Holy Eucharist.” He reflected with gratitude on how he had celebrated Mass and contemplated its mystery every day since his ordination in Poland in 1946. Then he said, “Every day my faith has been able to recognize in the consecrated bread and wine the divine Wayfarer who joined the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and opened their eyes to the light and their hearts to a new hope.”
In saying this, he was of course referring directly to today’s gospel. As we heard, on the evening of that first Easter day, the “wayfaring” Jesus revealed himself in the “breaking of the bread”- one of the earliest titles for the Mass. And following this, the two disciples recalled how their “hearts burned” as Jesus explained the Scriptures to them.
The way this event is described is meant to remind us that we too encounter the risen Jesus at Mass. First, Jesus himself speaks to us when the Scriptures are proclaimed, and our hearts should burn within us. And then Jesus presents himself to us in the consecrated bread and wine, his Body and Blood. In other words, the risen Jesus is met, not just by the first disciples on that first Easter, but also by us every time we participate in the Eucharist. Indeed, this and every Sunday, to again quote the Holy Father, “is Easter which returns week by week.”
What a tremendous gift this is! Pope John Paul II called it the “gift par excellence,” and he dearly wanted all of us to cherish it for what it is. “In the Eucharist we have Jesus,” he wrote, “we have his redemptive sacrifice, we have his resurrection, we have the gift of the Holy Spirit, we have adoration, obedience, and love of the Father.” “Were we to disregard the Eucharist,” he continued, “how could we overcome our own deficiency?
Yet sometimes we Catholics do disregard the Eucharist. We neglect it or take it for granted. It’s heartbreaking to read that only one third of Catholics in the United States today attend Mass on any given Sunday. It’s sad, and it’s also ironic, since it is the Eucharist that attracts so many non-Catholic Christians to join our church. A parishioner here once explained to me that while she had been born and raised a Christian, it was her desire for the gift of Jesus in the Eucharist that led her to become a Catholic.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, who essentially founded our country’s Catholic school system, had a similar experience. She had been a New York Episcopalian until her husband’s illness in 1803 led both of them to the warmer climate of Rome to seek a cure. While there, she met kind and generous Catholic people who explained to her that Jesus could be met in the Mass. This greatly appealed to her in her loneliness and concern for her husband’s health. She wrote this to her sister back home: “While I face the full loneliness and sadness of my case, I cannot stop tears at the thought, “My God, how happy I would be, even so far away from all so dear, if I could find you in the church as they do.’”
Do we feel that way about the Eucharist, or do we think otherwise? Is Mass something we anticipate with joy, or do we dread it as a burden or an inconvenience? It participation at Mass a top priority, or is it something we do only occasionally, or even rarely? Yes, sometimes we do have legitimate reasons for missing Mass on Sunday. But more often than not, we don’t. In one of his books, Fr. Oscar Lukefahr asks this question: If we were offered a week’s salary to skip Mass this morning, would we go anyway? If our answer is yes, then God bless us. But if our answer is no, not only do we disobey God’s command, but we show that God is less important to us than money- or any number of other things. Indeed, it would show that we were out of touch with the true God, who is worth infinitely more than anything this passing world has to offer.[1]
Participating at Mass, Fr. Lukefahr point out, is really the only thing that Jesus specifically asks us to do for himself. “Do this in memory of me,” was his command to us at the Last Supper. In light of all that he’s done for us, how could we possibly ignore his request? How could we ever refuse such as blessing?[2] As Kathy Kramer reminded her son, Jesus presents himself in the Eucharist to remind us of how much he loves us. In gratitude, shouldn’t we faithfully present ourselves to Jesus at the Eucharist, to show how much we love him?
[1] Fr. Oscar Lukefahr, We Worship: A Guide to the Catholic Mass
“It was a dark and story night” is widely understood to be a terrible beginning to a novel! However, a dark and stormy night proved to be a perfect time for Jesus to reveal something of himself to his friends.
After sunset, as today’s gospel recalls, the disciples were straining to row their boat in the face of powerful winds. Seeing their struggle, Jesus came to them, walking on water. Not only did this demonstrate Jesus’ power over nature. It also suggested his power over death- which water represented in the Jewish imagination.
As he approached them, the Lord assured his friends by saying, “I am Jesus.” Simple words- but rich with meaning. “I AM” is God’s own name as spoken to Moses at the burning bush; “Jesus,” in Hebrew, means “God saves.” Jesus concluded with an invitation: “Do not be afraid.”
What Jesus communicated to his disciples that night, he also says to us: “There’s no need to fear. I am Jesus; I am God. When life is dark and stormy, and you’re straining into the wind, I will come to you. I will save you from your fears; I will save you from death.”
St. Catherine of Siena summed it up very well: “Be comforted in Christ crucified, and do not be afraid.”
OK, you know the typical drill of a TV commercial: As the scene opens, some buffoon of a man, usually a husband, is struggling to have a clue as to what something is all about. Sure enough, an all-knowing woman (usually the wife), rolling her eyes and shaking her head in pity, is there to help the stupid buffoon of a man not utterly ruin everything. And of course the product being peddled is usually part of the solution. And, by the way, did I mention that the man is stupid? In an alternate version, it is the children who are all-wise, and they help the idiot father figure things out as they step in with the product. And of course we’re all supposed to laugh: “Ha, Ha, Ha look at that stupid guy. What an idiot!”
Obviously these ads are not trying to sell anything to me. I am far more prone to refuse to buy any product that says, “Hey, buy our product you buffoon.” Perhaps they are targeted to women? Even worse, to children?
OK, now remember this is a “rant.” And a rant is “to talk in a noisy, excited, or declamatory manner.” I don’t lack any sense of humor, and can laugh at myself and the male sex from time to time. But, after a while, these ads are wearying, and their frequency does indicate to me something that is fundamentally unhealthy in our culture.
The greatest harm, I think, comes to children who see men, and especially fathers, presented as idiots, crude, foolish, lustful and just plain stupid. A steady diet of this served up in commercials does not help them respect their elders, especially their fathers, and other male authority figures.
Neither does it really help women. The “men are idiots” thinking may have a certain “charm” or humor angle, (i.e., it’s interesting at times to poke fun at the differences between men and women), but in the end, it isn’t a good attitude to cultivate. Women do owe men respect, just as a fellow human beings. And, for those who accept Scripture, a husband is at the head of the house. Ridicule and caricature, are not helpful dispositions in cultivating family love and unity.
Neither do these ads help men. It is always best for men to see their best qualities exemplified. Instead what they get is a portrait that men are not only stupid, they are lazy, unfaithful, lustful, inappropriate, addicted to beer, lousy fathers, unkempt, inattentive to their wife and kids due to sports, and did I mention, stupid? How does a steady diet of this help men?
Some argue that these ads, of reflect culture. Really? Are all men like this? They may reflect culture in the sense that male characteristics are often on the outs and that it is politically correct to caricature men. Try reversing the roles and put the woman in the role of buffoon and see how that would fly.
But not only do the ads reflect culture, they help shape it. Again I ask, how does all this negativity help men and boys to understand what is good about them? There are very few healthy male portraits in current culture. It is not only the buffoonery of the ads, it is the extremely violent and hyper-sexualized “heroes” of the movies, idiosyncratic actors, freakish rock and rap stars, often immoral or out of control sports figures, effeminate, and weak sitcom “dads,” and the thuggish, criminal and unfaithful men of series such as Sopranos. None of this helps young men toward grasping their better nature and becoming good, responsible husbands and fathers.
So there is my rant. Below are a number of videos that portray the “men are idiots” commercials. As always, I am interested in your thoughts.
Barley bread and little fish were a typical “workingman’s lunch” in Jesus’ day; they were a first century “po’ boy san’wich,” if you will. Its mention into today’s gospel in a sign that the crowds who followed Jesus into the dangerous wilderness were poor, in addition to being hungry.
Parallels with the Eucharist are also in today’s gospel. It’s Passover time, as it was for the first Eucharist. The crowd’s reclining on the grass anticipates the disciples reclining at table in the Upper Room. Jesus’ taking loaves, giving thanks, and passing them on are the same as his actions at the Last Supper. And the gathering of fragments into baskets, according to ancient interpretation, implies the unity that the Eucharist signifies for the Church.
What the combination of inferences to the hungry poor and the Eucharist seems to be saying to us is this: We who feed on Jesus in the Eucharist are in turn to seek out and feed Jesus in the faces of the poor. Jesus commands us, just as he instructed his disciples: “You give them something to eat.”
If someone were to ask us, “How has God touched your life?” we would each have a different answer, because we all have a unique personal story to tell.
But even though our faith histories are all somewhat different, what God wants us to do with these experiences is one and the same: He wants us to share them for the benefit of others; He wants to touch other lives through our telling of how he has touched ours. To not share our stories would be a disservice to those people God may be trying to reach through us- and perhaps only us.
In sharing our stories, we follow in the footsteps of Jesus himself who, in the words of today’s gospel, “Testifies to what he has seen and heard” from the Father in heaven. We also follow the courageous example of the apostles, who in the first reading explained to those who wanted to put them to death that they were compelled to testify to the acts of God which they had witnessed.
Like them, we have a responsibility to share our stories, out of love for others, and for the glory of God. “My deepest vocation,” wrote Fr. Henri Nouwen, “is to be a witness to the glimpses of God I have been allowed to catch.”
My eldest daughter’s Catholic preschool teacher once sent home a note, explaining that, “God made me. I am special,” was what they were learning that week. I smiled as I read that. But then the thought occurred to me: How many adults need to learn this same lesson? How many people fail to realize that they are special in God’s eyes? How many just don’t know- really- that God loves them?
It’s been said that the poorest people in the world are those that are unloved, because they’re robbed of their human dignity. If that’s the case, then the world is a very poor place.
Today’s gospel, however, reminds us God loves us more than we could ever imagine. We’re told he loves us so much that he wants us to live with him forever, and that his own Son died to make this possible. It’s as if God is saying to us: “I love you so much that I can’t think of spending eternity without you.”
Are we grateful for this love? In prayer I try to be grateful to God for many things: blessings received, prayers answered, and so forth. Maybe you’re the same way. But how often do we simply say, “Thank you God, for loving me.” Probably not often enough. Today, let’s make it a point to rejoice in the wonderful truth that God is love, and that God really, really, loves us.
All religions in the world have something to say about truth. The Hindu scriptures say: “Truth is elusive. It’s like a butterfly; you’ve got to search for it. Near the end of his life, the Buddha said: “I’m still searching for the truth.” Muhammad said, “I am a prophet of the truth.”
Jesus also had something to say about the truth. He didn’t say he was searching for it, or that it is elusive, or that he is truth’s prophet. He stated, quite simply, that he himself is the truth. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life,” he said in today’s gospel. And he is these things, Jesus explained, because he and the Father are one. Jesus, in other words, is God. And that forces us to make a decision. We either accept that Jesus is who he says he is, or we don’t.
You and I believe that Jesus is the truth; that’s why we’re here. But with this knowledge comes responsibility. Every person on earth seeks the truth, which means that everyone is ultimately searching for Jesus. We who know Jesus as the truth, therefore, must share that truth with others. To keep the truth to ourselves would be a crime; to share it with others is an act of love. The apostles we celebrate today, Saints Philip and James, shared the truth of Jesus, and so must we. What today’s psalm said of God’s creation should also be said of us: “Their message goes out through all the world.”
A reader alerted me to an interesting and insightful analysis by Pope Leo XIII of three trends that both alarmed him and pointed to future problems. He wrote of these three concerns in 1893 in the Encyclical on the Holy Rosary entitled Laetitiae Sanctae (Of Holy Joy). The Pope enunciates these three areas of concern and then offers the mysteries of the Rosary as a necessary remedy. Lets look at how the Pope describes the problems and then consider too what he sees as a solution. His teaching is in bold, italic, black. My remarks are in plain text, red.
There are three influences which appear to Us to have the chief place in effecting this downgrade movement of society. These are–first, the distaste for a simple and laborious life; secondly, repugnance to suffering of any kind; thirdly, the forgetfulness of the future life. (# 4)
Problem 1 – The distaste for a simple and laborious life– We deplore….the growing contempt of those homely duties and virtues which make up the beauty of humble life. To this cause we may trace in the home, the readiness of children to withdraw themselves from the natural obligation of obedience to the parents, and their impatience of any form of treatment which is not of the indulgent and effeminate kind. In the workman, it evinces itself in a tendency to desert his trade, to shrink from toil, to become discontented with his lot, to fix his gaze on things that are above him, and to look forward with unthinking hopefulness to some future equalization of property. We may observe the same temper permeating the masses in the eagerness to exchange the life of the rural districts for the excitements and pleasures of the town….(#5)
One of the truths that sets us free is to simply realize and come to accept that life is hard. It involves trials, arduous work, and setbacks, along with some of the progress we can and do experience. Very few things of true values come to us without a significant cost. Simply put, life is hard. But, coming to accept this is a freeing thing for many of our resentments are minimized or removed by this acceptance. The fact is, many today expect that life should be peachy. And when it is not, there is resentment, anger, even threats of lawsuits. Many today think of happiness as a God-given right. Our Founding Fathers recognized the pursuit of happiness as a goal. But today many expect that happiness to be the norm and to be a sort of right. When it does not exist for them, there has been a failure of the system somehow. Many today expect to live lives where there is little danger, and where things come easily. This has been one of the factors that influenced the growth of government. For as insistence on a comfortable life grows and hard work seems unreasonable, we expect government to ease our burdens and provide increasing levels of comfort and happiness, and we are less willing to work hard for these things. Rather we see happiness and comfort as things to which we are entitled.
But unrealistic expectations are premeditated resentments. And so, with often unrealistic expectations, people quickly grow resentful and even pout. It would seem that our ancestors who lived even as recently as 150 years ago had different notions. They looked for happiness alright, but largely expected to find that in heaven. Many of the old Catholic prayers bespeak a vision that this world was a place of travail, of exile, a valley of tears, where we sighed and longed to be with God. Most Catholics of those earlier times lived lives that were brutal and short. Most were peasants, and lived with far less creature comforts than we. There was no central air, electricity, running water, and medicines were few and far less effective. Entertainment was limited, houses were smaller, even tiny and transportation was far more limited.
We live so well compared to them. And though we are more comfortable, there is little evidence that we are happier. Indeed, we seem more resentful, because we expect more, a lot more. As the Pope notes, young people resent discipline and expect to be spoiled. The majority of parents seem willing to indulge them and shun giving correction since it raises tensions and causes difficulties.
The value of hard work and the satisfaction that comes from it seems lost on many today. Cardinal McCarrick used to counsel us priests that if we did not go to bed tired, something was wrong. We all need some rest and relaxation, sure, but hard work actually brings greater satisfaction to times of rest.
The fact is, high expectations of this world like we have today, breed discontent and resentments. For by it these unrealistic and high expectations, we really insist on living in a fantasy that this world is, or can be paradise. It cannot. A better strategy is to accept that life is difficult and, though it has its joys, it presents arduous difficulties to us that must be met with courage and acceptance. Though this is a hard truth it brings peace when it is accepted.
To the first error Pope Leo commend to our attention the Joyful mysteries and particularly a meditation on the implicit lessons of the home at Nazareth:
Let us take our stand in front of that earthly and divine home of holiness, the House of Nazareth. How much we have to learn from the daily life which was led within its walls! What an all-perfect model of domestic society! Here we behold simplicity and purity of conduct, perfect agreement and unbroken harmony, mutual respect and love….devotedness of service. Here is the patient industry which provides what is required for food and raiment; which does so “in the sweat of the brow,” which is contented with little….These are precious examples of goodness, of modesty, of humility, of hard-working endurance, of kindness to others, of diligence in the small duties of daily life, and of other virtues…., Then will each one begin to feel his work to be no longer lowly and irksome, but grateful and lightsome, and clothed with a certain joyousness by his sense of duty in discharging it conscientiously….home-life…loved and esteemed….(# 6).
Problem 2 – Repugnance to suffering of any kind– A second evil…. is to be found in repugnance to suffering and eagerness to escape whatever is hard or painful to endure. The greater number are thus robbed of that peace and freedom of mind which remains the reward of those who do what is right undismayed by the perils or troubles to be met with in doing so….By this passionate and unbridled desire of living a life of pleasure, the minds of men are weakened, and if they do not entirely succumb, they become demoralized and miserably cower and sink under the hardships of the battle of life. (# 7)
Yes, today more than ever, there is almost a complete intolerance to any sort of suffering. This has been fueled by the fact that we have been successful in eliminating a lot of suffering.
As noted, we have many creature comforts that protect us from the elements, medicines that alleviate physical pain and bodily discomforts, appliances and technology that provide unprecedented convenience and make a lot of manual labor all but unnecessary.
This, as we have also noted, leads to expectations which are ultimately unrealistic. Namely, that all suffering should be eliminated. There is almost an indignity expressed when one suggests that perhaps some things should be endured or that it is unreasonable to expect government, or doctors, or science to eliminate every evil or form of suffering.
Further, we seem to refuse the notion that accidents sometimes happen or that unfortunate circumstances will just occur. Instead we demand more laws that are often intrusive and oppressive, and we undertake huge lawsuits that often discourage the very risk taking that makes new inventions, medicines and medical techniques possible.
We often hold people responsible for things they can do little about. Sometimes economies just have cycles, climates too. Governments, laws and politicians cannot be expected to solve every problem or alleviate every burden. Sometimes accidents just happen.
Not a Padded room – While we can and should undertake to fix unnecessary hazards and seek to ease one another’s burdens, life isn’t a padded room. Suffering, sorrows, accidents, burdens and difficulties are part of life in this valley of tears. Acceptance of this truth leads to a kind of paradoxical serenity. Rejection of it and indulgence in unrealistic notions that all suffering is unreasonable leads to resentments and further unhappiness.
Here too, Pope Leo commend to us the rosary, in particular the sorrowful mysteries:
…If from our earliest years our minds have been trained to dwell upon the sorrowful mysteries of Our Lord’s life…we [may] see written in His example all the lessons that He Himself had taught us for the bearing of our burden of labor– and sorrow, and mark how the sufferings…He embraced with the greatest measure of generosity and good will. We behold Him overwhelmed with sadness, so that drops of blood ooze like sweat from His veins. We see Him bound like a malefactor, subjected to the judgment of the unrighteous, laden with insults, covered with shame, assailed with false accusations, torn with scourges, crowned with thorns, nailed to the cross, accounted unworthy to live….Here, too, we contemplate the grief of the most Holy Mother…”pierced” by the sword of sorrow…. (# 8 )
Then, be it that the “earth is accursed” and brings forth “thistles and thorns,”–be it that the soul is saddened with grief and the body with sickness; even so, there will be no evil which the envy of man or the rage of devils can invent, nor calamity which can fall upon the individual or the community, over which we shall not triumph by the patience of suffering….But by this patience, We do not mean that empty stoicism in the enduring of pain which was the ideal of some of the philosophers of old, but rather….It is the patience which is obtained by the help of His grace; which shirks not a trial because it is painful, but which accepts it and esteems it as a gain, however hard it may be to undergo. [Men and women of faith] re- echo, not with their lips, but with their life, the words of [the Apostle] St. Thomas: “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (John xi., 16). (# 9)
Yes, indeed, the cross is part of this life. But Christ has made it clear that the cross yields ultimately to glory if we carry it willingly and with faith.
Problem 3- Forgetfulness of the future life– The third evil for which a remedy is needed is one which is chiefly characteristic of the times in which we live. Men in former ages, although they loved the world, and loved it far too well, did not usually aggravate their sinful attachment to the things of earth by a contempt of the things of heaven. Even the right-thinking portion of the pagan world recognized that this life was not a home but a dwelling-place, not our destination, but a stage in the journey. But men of our day, albeit they have had the advantages of Christian instruction, pursue the false goods of this world in such wise that the thought of their true Fatherland of enduring happiness is not only set aside, but, to their shame be it said, banished and entirely erased from their memory, notwithstanding the warning of St. Paul, “We have not here a lasting city, but we seek one which is to come” (Heb. xiii., 4). (# 11)
I have become increasingly amazed at how little most modern people think of heaven. Even Church-going believers talk little of heaven, priest preach little on it. Our main preoccupation seems to be making this world a more comfortable and pleasant place. Even in our so-called spiritual life, our prayers bespeak a worldly preoccupation: Lord, fix my finances, fix my heath, get me a better job. Almost as though we were saying, “Make this world pleasant enough and I’ll just stay here.” It is not wrong to pray for better health etc. It is not wrong to work to make this world a better place. But in the end, our home is in heaven and we ought to be solicitous of it and eagerly seek its shores. It should be a frequent meditation, and to be with God forever, the deepest longing of our soul. Instead we fear getting “older” and hide death away in our culture. It ought to be that we can’t wait to see God. Sure, it would be nice to get a few things done that we’ve started, but as heaven and being with God draw closer, we ought to be happy that the years are ticking by faster. Each day is one day, closer to God!
Here too, our prosperity and creature comforts have mislead us into a love of this world that is unhealthy. A friend of the world is an enemy to God (James 4:4). We are distracted and too easily dismiss that this world is passing away. The fact is, we are going to die. Only a proper longing for heaven can correct the absurdity that an obsessional love for this world establishes in our soul.
Meditate on heaven often! Read the scriptures, such as Revelation 1, & 4-5, 20-21. Ask for a deeper longing from God.
Pope Leo commends the Glorious mysteries of the rosary to our attention as a medicine for this absurd attachment to this passing world and our forgetfulness of heaven:
These mysteries are the means by which, in the soul of a Christian, a most clear light is shed upon the good things, hidden to sense, but visible to faith, “which God has prepared for those who love Him.” From them we learn that death is not an annihilation which ends all things, but merely a migration and passage from life to life. By them we are taught that the path to Heaven lies open to all men, and as we behold Christ ascending thither, we recall the sweet words of His promise, “I go to prepare a place for you.” By them we are reminded that a time will come when “God will wipe away every tear from our eyes,” and that “neither mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow, shall be any more,” and that “We shall be always with the Lord,” and “like to the Lord, for we shall see Him as He is,” and “drink of the torrent of His delight,” as “fellow-citizens of the saints,” in the blessed companionship of our glorious Queen and Mother. Dwelling upon such a prospect, our hearts are kindled with desire, and we exclaim, in the words of a great saint, “How vile grows the earth when I look up to heaven!” Then, too, shall we feel the solace of the assurance “that this momentary and light affliction produces for us an eternal weight of glory beyond measure, exceedingly ” (2 Cor. iv., 17).
Here then are three diagnoses, and three remedies. It is interesting to see that the roots of them were already evident in 1893 and how they have come further to press upon us more than 100 years later. It is helpful to have a Doctor of Souls to help us name the demons that afflict us. For having named a demon, we have more power over it and learn its moves:
Demon, your name is “laziness” and “distaste” for hard work. By the joyful mysteries of the Lord’s Life, be gone.
Demon your name “refusal of any suffering” and an “resentment at the cross.” By the sorrowful mysteries of our Lord’s life, be gone.
Demon your name is “forgetfulness of heaven” and “obsession with the passing world.” By the glorious mysteries of Lord’s life and our Lady’s too, be gone.
disciples recalled how their “hearts burned” as Jesus explained the Scriptures to them.
dread it as a burden or an inconvenience? It participation at Mass a top priority, or is it something we do only occasionally, or even rarely? Yes, sometimes we do have legitimate reasons for missing Mass on Sunday. But more often than not, we don’t. In one of his books, Fr. Oscar Lukefahr asks this question: If we were offered a week’s salary to skip Mass this morning, would we go anyway? If our answer is yes, then God bless us. But if our answer is no, not only do we disobey God’s command, but we show that God is less important to us than money- or any number of other things. Indeed, it would show that we were out of touch with the true God, who is worth infinitely more than anything this passing world has to offer.[1]
A reader alerted me to an interesting and insightful analysis by Pope Leo XIII of three trends that both alarmed him and pointed to future problems. He wrote of these three concerns in 1893 in the Encyclical on the Holy Rosary entitled